"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 1. Read the OP and RISE ABOVE FORGED PRECISION SCIENCE

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How's this? Good to go? Will the ram get in the way of the cooler?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI X99S SLI Plus ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($161.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($539.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1729.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 10:11 EDT-0400
 
Has anyone here built a really low-end HTPC for in-home streaming and maybe light emulation? I'm looking around at different parts and it might be feasible to build something in the $300 range, but i'm not sure if it would be worth spending another couple hundred dollars for something that could actually play most games. Are the small form-factor builds in the OP still up to date? The post is almost a year old.
 
Oh man, I'm sweating because Amazon still hasn't fulfilled my 4790s order -- they have until next Wednesday before it's officially past their guarantee date -- and for some reason Amazon.ca's offer isn't showing anymore on the product page. :/

Also, the GTX 960 4GB I was looking at went up by $20 at Direct Canada, which brings it up to par with other retailers :(
 
Need some help with a build to replace my ancient Dell machine. I have some parts that I have acquired that I would like to use with the build to keep the cost down. I would like to future proof as much as possible, but at the same time keep the cost down. I had some difficulty choosing the mobo and ram in the list below. Any help is appreciated.

[Basic Desktop Questions]
Your Current Specs: Old Dell OptiPlex 760 with Core2Duo E5400 / 8GB RAM / GTX9800.
Budget: ~$500, trying to save as much as possible.
Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest: Gaming (5), Emulation (PS2/Wii) (4), Video Editing (0), Streaming games in HD (0), 3D/Model work (and what program) (0), General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) (4).
Monitor Resolution: 1080p, using existing dual monitors. Gaming on a single monitor.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: GTAV, The Witcher 3, Skyrim mods. 60fps is nice, but not necessary as long as they run better than console versions.
Looking to reuse any parts?: Have CPU, PSU, storage and optical drives. See list below.
When will you build?: Between now and late summer.
Will you be overclocking?: Likely not.

[BUILD] - Items marked as $0 I already have. Storage and optical drive parts are not exact. Also, since I already have a CPU, would I need to purchase a CPU cooler?
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-2400 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($56.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($199.00 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT H230 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer (Purchased For $0.00)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $405.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 11:15 EDT-0400
 
Could someone explain to me the differences between the Samsung 850 EVO and 850 PRO line?

I got a good deal on a 1TB SSD 850 EVO but I'm not sure if it would be a good buy now that I realized there are 2 different models (EVO and PRO).
 
Could someone explain to me the differences between the Samsung 850 EVO and 850 PRO line?

I got a good deal on a 1TB SSD 850 EVO but I'm not sure if it would be a good buy now that I realized there are 2 different models (EVO and PRO).

Evo is TLC based, Pro is MLC. Pro has better longevity and is faster.

FWIW I don't think the Pro is worth the price premium.
 
I've been browsing gaming mice out of curiosity (still happy with my g400) and man, who designs these things. They all look like parodies. How does Logitech go from this

81Jn9x4MXML._SX466_.jpg


to this

g400s-gaming-mouse-images.png


to this

logitech_g402_0.jpg
 
I've been browsing gaming mice out of curiosity (still happy with my g400) and man, who designs these things. They all look like parodies. How does Logitech go from this



to this


to this

I had a MX518 and it had a really elegant design. Those newer models are such a turn off.
facepalm.gif
 
I've been browsing gaming mice out of curiosity (still happy with my g400) and man, who designs these things. They all look like parodies. How does Logitech go from this


to this


to this

I can't disagree with you. I don't understand why the larger companies feel like "gaming" peripherals need to be all wild and crazy looking with flashy logos and futuristic mechanical looking things.

Function over form for me.
 
The most annoying thing is that Logitechs regular mice look great (I have a performance mx and its really nice), its just the xtreme gaming ones
 
So I have a gaming PC (needs upgrading but still going strong), a dedicated music PC (fanless, hooked up to a DAC), and now i want to build a home file server.


Of course while I want to keep the cost down, the main point would be to conserve power as it will be running 24/7. I am trying to decide between two different Haswell CPUs. Both are T models with 35W power use.

My main question is, should I go with the i5 (quad core) or the i3 (dual core)? There will be some streaming of movies to other devices so there will be transcoding. I just want to be sure that paying for the extra cores will be worth it, given that the actual speed of the CPU is the same between the two models.

Tl/dr

i3 or i5 for a home server that will do transcoding?

Also can I do a simple server with windows 8.1? What does windows home server offer that I can't do with regular windows?
 
Is it a good time to build a gaming PC or should I wait for Broadwell/Skylake? There's some games I want to play like Skyrim (my current PC chokes on it), but I'm mostly interested in VR.

I would just wait for Vive or Oculus to release, but I've also got the strong urge to buy a console + new 3DS with the money I've been saving up for a PC + VR. I literally had to talk myself out of walking into a GameStop I passed and buying a PS4 yesterday. The temptation is strong.

Here's the specs of my current PC:

Pentium G620 2.60GHz
4GB DDR3-1333
Radeon HD 6570 1GB


It plays TF2, L4D2, and Pillars of Eternity well enough though. =)
 
A friend of mine and I are looking into producing some videos and also live streaming. My current PC isn't really cutting it when it comes to the encoding of video for livestreaming. I have been wanting to upgrade for awhile as the CPU, MB, and RAM are all from 2009. I'm Currently running a Core2 Quad Q9550 at 3.4 GHz, 8 GB RAM, and I have a 7870 GHz edition. Honestly it plays game decent enough, though of course it could be better. I'm trying to decide if I think it is worth waiting for Skylake, or just bite the bullet now and get the best i7 quad core I can get. I would recycle the graphics card and that is it.

TLDR: Is it worth waiting a little longer for Skylake or should I just get an i7 4790k build?
 
A friend of mine and I are looking into producing some videos and also live streaming. My current PC isn't really cutting it when it comes to the encoding of video for livestreaming. I have been wanting to upgrade for awhile as the CPU, MB, and RAM are all from 2009. I'm Currently running a Core2 Quad Q9550 at 3.4 GHz, 8 GB RAM, and I have a 7870 GHz edition. Honestly it plays game decent enough, though of course it could be better. I'm trying to decide if I think it is worth waiting for Skylake, or just bite the bullet now and get the best i7 quad core I can get. I would recycle the graphics card and that is it.

TLDR: Is it worth waiting a little longer for Skylake or should I just get an i7 4790k build?

Why not try the OBS VCE fork?

https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/obs-branch-with-amd-vce-support.13996/

I use it with my 7970 GE.
 
Oh, did you ever try the one based on OBS-MP?

https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/obs-branch-with-amd-vce-support.13996/page-79#post-126567

I use an i5-2400 sadly. Bumped the bus to 105 and it usually stays at ~3.7GHz with 4 threads so I do use the VCE encoder for twitch at 1080p 30fps with "balanced".

Thank you I will have to try this out tonight and see if that makes a difference. I find it very strange that the Elgato software doesn't support VCE for the stream command section.
 
Thank you I will have to try this out tonight and see if that makes a difference. I find it very strange that the Elgato software doesn't support VCE for the stream command section.

Only Xsplit has implemented VCE besides the AMD Raptr software and the OBS fork AFAIK.
 
So I'm thinking of getting the 960, since it's about 180 bucks cheaper than 970. But not sure if this is a wise investment, considering the fact that 960 won't even able to run The Witcher 3 on high settings.
 
So my pc is crashing after a few minutes of game play

(ASUS GTX980)
(Kingston fury 16GB)
(Acer XB280HK bprz 28-inch Display Ultra HD 4K2K NVIDIA G-SYNC (3840 x 2160) Widescreen Monitor)

Are the new components to go along with:

(AMD FX 8350 B.E. and 8 GB of ram and a Corsair c.x. 600PSU)

Any thoughts?

EDIT: I've tried on multiple resolutions and games.
 
Well, that is the aim, I'm aware it won't be enough for everything :)
I don't plan to overclock in the near future, but I might like to do that in 6/12 months; that's why I chose the K processor and not put the cooler. The PSU I chose was semi because I think it should be a bit easier to build and to keep the whole thing cleaner, as this is my first build. Also, would the 16GB of ram be worth it? I don't do any editing or streaming, nor I really use that many programs at the same time.
The price I put myself were the Amazon.it price I found on the website itself, which weren't showing in PCPartPicker (the price for Windows is the one on the official website)
Thanks for the advice!

I see, in that case I will see about cutting costs in your build instead. You don't need 16GB of RAM, it is just nice to have. The Corsair 350D has a large cutout for CPU cooler backplate access, so I guess you could add the cooler in later (it's still easier to install the cooler on top of the motherboard before putting the motherboard in the case, though).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€252.44 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€101.25 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (€71.64 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Crucial BX100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€68.05 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€52.40 @ Amazon Italia)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (€285.16 @ Amazon Italia)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case (€102.27 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€98.76 @ Amazon Italia)
Monitor: BenQ GW2265HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (€108.41 @ Amazon Italia)
Other: HDMI Cable (€8.00)
Other: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (€103.23)
Total: €1251.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 23:07 CEST+0200

Windows 8.1 is on Amazon.it for 103,23€, and to further save money I chose the Asus R9 290 instead of the GTX 970. It offers similar performance for nearly 90€ less.

How's this? Good to go? Will the ram get in the way of the cooler?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI X99S SLI Plus ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($161.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($539.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1729.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 10:11 EDT-0400

I'd go with the slightly cheaper Crucial BX100 500GB model ($180) and stick with the Rosewill power supply. The Supernova G2 1000 watt is a nice power supply, but again, expensive. If you look at the price tracker, you'll see that every couple of weeks it frequently drops to just $110 on Newegg which would be preferable to the $150 after $20 rebate that it currently costs.
 
Is overclocking an i5-4670k with a stock cooler possible? I'd replace it but last time I tried to put this 212 Evo on, bad things happened and the mobo started smoking and I had to replace it. So I'm like terrified of physically messing with anything ever.
 
Any recommendations for full tower cases other than the Phanteks in the OP?

Budget? Any specific features or design that you prefer?

murrica

150 max, ideally something under 100
what's the amount of watts I should get

For your needs you only need 450 watts, I recommend this EVGA 500 watt model for $35 after $15 of discounts.

Tl/dr

i3 or i5 for a home server that will do transcoding?

Also can I do a simple server with windows 8.1? What does windows home server offer that I can't do with regular windows?

I don't think you'll ever need to have an i5 for a home server, although it would mean the home server would still be useful in the future if you ever wanted to do anything more intensive on it or repurpose it for some other use. Looking at things like Plex, the requirements for transcoding are quite low, they recommend old Core 2 Duo processors as a minimum.

Yeah, you could definitely use Windows 8.1 as a server OS. Windows Home Server has actually been discontinued, but a lot its features are now built into Windows 8.1. See these two links for details:

Maximum PC Windows 8 home server guide
We Got Served Windows 8 home server guide

So I'm thinking of getting the 960, since it's about 180 bucks cheaper than 970. But not sure if this is a wise investment, considering the fact that 960 won't even able to run The Witcher 3 on high settings.

What country are you in? The R9 290 should be a nice middle point between the GTX 960 and 970. Assuming you're in the US, the Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC is only $240 after $30 of discounts.

So my pc is crashing after a few minutes of game play

(ASUS GTX980)
(Kingston fury 16GB)
(Acer XB280HK bprz 28-inch Display Ultra HD 4K2K NVIDIA G-SYNC (3840 x 2160) Widescreen Monitor)

Are the new components to go along with:

(AMD FX 8350 B.E. and 8 GB of ram and a Corsair c.x. 600PSU)

Any thoughts?

EDIT: I've tried on multiple resolutions and games.

Did you get a chance to see what the error in the BSOD message was? Try the BlueScreenView tool to see if you can get anything from the crash logs.

Is overclocking an i5-4670k with a stock cooler possible? I'd replace it but last time I tried to put this 212 Evo on, bad things happened and the mobo started smoking and I had to replace it. So I'm like terrified of physically messing with anything ever.

Wow, I wonder what happened to the motherboard.

I wouldn't really recommend overclocking with the stock cooler. It's just not good enough to handle the increased heat and the fan would get loud and fast whenever you were doing anything CPU intensive.
 
Has anyone here built a really low-end HTPC for in-home streaming and maybe light emulation? I'm looking around at different parts and it might be feasible to build something in the $300 range, but i'm not sure if it would be worth spending another couple hundred dollars for something that could actually play most games. Are the small form-factor builds in the OP still up to date? The post is almost a year old.

sure, you can get a mITX asrock board and an AMD processor with built in GPU for pretty cheap. That's what I was rocking for a few years for XMBC and light gaming in Steam.
 
[Basic Desktop Questions]
Your Current Specs: Starting from Scratch
Budget: $600-800 US
Main Use (Rate 1-5 5 being Highest):
Light Gaming - 5
Gaming - 5
Emulation (PS2/Wii) - 3
Video Editing - 1
Streaming games in HD - 2
3D/Model work - 1
General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) - 5
Monitor Resolution:
What resolution will you be playing your games at? 1080p
Are you going to upgrade later? No
Are you buying a new monitor? No, I'll be using my 32" tv as the monitor for gaming
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well:
I'm really interested in Cities: Skyline, The Witcher 3, and No Man's Sky. I want to be able to play these at 60FPS if possible with my budget.
How important is PhysX / SuperSampling / CUDA to you? -- I'm not exactly sure...
Looking to reuse any parts?: Don't have any parts to reuse at the moment
When will you build?: I'm looking to start in early May and finish by the end of July
Will you be overclocking?: With some explanation, yes.


I'm graduating from university in a couple of weeks, and with my free time this summer, I'm hoping to finally start with this endeavor.
 
[Basic Desktop Questions]
Your Current Specs: Starting from Scratch
Budget: $600-800 US
Main Use (Rate 1-5 5 being Highest):
Light Gaming - 5
Gaming - 5
Emulation (PS2/Wii) - 3
Video Editing - 1
Streaming games in HD - 2
3D/Model work - 1
General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) - 5
Monitor Resolution:
What resolution will you be playing your games at? 1080p
Are you going to upgrade later? No
Are you buying a new monitor? No, I'll be using my 32" tv as the monitor for gaming
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well:
I'm really interested in Cities: Skyline, The Witcher 3, and No Man's Sky. I want to be able to play these at 60FPS if possible with my budget.
How important is PhysX / SuperSampling / CUDA to you? -- I'm not exactly sure...
Looking to reuse any parts?: Don't have any parts to reuse at the moment
When will you build?: I'm looking to start in early May and finish by the end of July
Will you be overclocking?: With some explanation, yes.

I'm graduating from university in a couple of weeks, and with my free time this summer, I'm hoping to finally start with this endeavor.

Here's what I recommend. It's the strongest graphics card and CPU you can hope to get at your price range.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.95 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($58.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X OC Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $802.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 18:31 EDT-0400

If you live near a Microcenter, you can get the motherboard and CPU bundled together for just $250. Otherwise, to save some money you could go with a cheaper graphics card.

Do you already have a copy of Windows? Windows 7/8.1 licenses can be bought from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for $20 or less. These are most likely legitimate keys that are resold from educational programs like Technet or Dreamspark. However, you are dealing with a person instead of a retailer, and informal Windows keys sales are unapproved by Microsoft and probably breaking some licensing agreement to be clear, but it's not illegal. The risks involved are that the person could be selling you a fake or used key, or that Microsoft may deactivate your license and refuse to reactivate it, although it's somewhat unlikely, usually only if the seller and their list of sold keys was caught. We've had people here using those keys without issues for a long time and others who say Microsoft deactivated their key after several months.

Edit: I noticed you said you were planning to build in May. Prices can and will have changed by that point, so keep this parts list as a guideline, we should come back to this about a week or so before you intend to buy so you can figure out definite costs. Still, if you were hoping to buy some parts early, the graphics card and case are at a nice price and you could buy them now.
 
How important is cooling/case/fans for contemporary GPUs? I'm thinking of upgrading my GPU in the next few months but I still have my CM 690 from like 2009 with stock fans except the CPU fan.
 
Does anyone know if I'll have issues installing the Corsair H100i in the Fractal Define R4 w/ the MSI X99S mobo? there's a piece above where the CPU goes that looks bulky.

I kinda like the look of the R4 more than the R5...mainly the top, the H100i installed looked tacky on the R5 from the builds I've seen.
 
Does anyone know if I'll have issues installing the Corsair H100i in the Fractal Define R4 w/ the MSI X99S mobo? there's a piece above where the CPU goes that looks bulky.

I kinda like the look of the R4 more than the R5...mainly the top, the H100i installed looked tacky on the R5 from the builds I've seen.

Although it's technically possible to fit the H100i, Anandtech recommends not mounting a radiator in the top mount of of the Define R4 due to a lack of space.

If water cooling isn't an option, how about air cooling? The Phanteks PH-TC14PE ($65~75 in a variety of colors) is a very competitively priced air cooler that performs on par with the Corsair H100i according to these tests by Bit-Tech and HiTechLegion. It should also be quieter than the H100i.

The H100i is somewhat more capable of lower temperatures in the end when it comes to higher end overclocking, but the Phanteks is better for cost and noise and the temperature difference isn't that great if you won't be overclocking right away or above 4.5Ghz or so.
 
I ordered the H100i already but I could return it.

I've ordered everything for my PC but the case. I'm not sure what to go with. I want something for a minimalist in black.

Everything I like seems to have issues, like the H440 Razer apparently has bad cooling in the case.
 
Hey guys, do you have any recommendations for 2TB portable external HDD at a decent price?

Seagate Expansion 2TB USB 3.0 portable

Is the one I got recently since it was a reasonable price. Don't know if it's any good though, I've only had it a couple of weeks.
 
I've been having some problems with my PC:

April 1st: I turn on my pc and it starts booting windows but then the screen just goes black instead of going into windows. After two more tries it lets me into windows so I just shrug it off and things are fine for 2 weeks.

April 14th: I'm surfing the web and my computer freezes. First the windows and things stop responding and then my mouse stops responding as well. With the machine completely unresponsive, I reboot and windows won't load. So I reinstall windows and as I'm reinstalling drivers then it freezes again. I reboot and run prime95 but after almost 5 hours the screen has frozen.

April 15th: I reboot, set the cpu back to stock, and let it run prime 95. Later I go to check the machine's status and I can move my mouse but nothing else is responsive, then after a few more seconds the mouse is no longer responsive either. I'm forced to reboot and now I can't get back into windows again :(

However, I did notice this on my latest look in the bios:

IMG_0006_zps3wzx6smj.jpg


My 3.3v rail is in red and seems to be running at 2.944 volts. At first I thought maybe my ssd was dying but after reinstalling windows all of the SMART parameters looked great. Now I'm thinking that my power supply is dying.

Here are my system specs by the way:
Intel 2600k @ 4.6ghz | Noctua NH-D14 | Asus P8Z68V-Pro GEN3 | 16GB G.Skill RipjawsX 1600mhz 9-9-9-24-2T | 256GB Samsung 840 Pro | 160GB Intel 320 Series | EVGA 3GB GTX 780 Ti + hi-flow bracket | Seasonic X750 | CaseLabs Merlin SM8 | X-Fi Titanium HD | Samsung SH-222BB | Win 7 Pro 64-bit

I've only had the psu for 3 years and 1 month :(
 
I ordered the H100i already but I could return it.

I've ordered everything for my PC but the case. I'm not sure what to go with. I want something for a minimalist in black.

Everything I like seems to have issues, like the H440 Razer apparently has bad cooling in the case.

There's the windowless version of the Phanteks Enthoo Pro ($90), NZXT Phantom 410 ($84), Corsair 500R ($80), NZXT Source S340 ($65)..

Where did you read that the H440 had poor cooling? Everything I can find from reviews says the opposite, actually.

I've been having some problems with my PC:

April 1st: I turn on my pc and it starts booting windows but then the screen just goes black instead of going into windows. After two more tries it lets me into windows so I just shrug it off and things are fine for 2 weeks.

April 14th: I'm surfing the web and my computer freezes. First the windows and things stop responding and then my mouse stops responding as well. With the machine completely unresponsive, I reboot and windows won't load. So I reinstall windows and as I'm reinstalling drivers then it freezes again. I reboot and run prime95 but after almost 5 hours the screen has frozen.

April 15th: I reboot, set the cpu back to stock, and let it run prime 95. Later I go to check the machine's status and I can move my mouse but nothing else is responsive, then after a few more seconds the mouse is no longer responsive either. I'm forced to reboot and now I can't get back into windows again :(

However, I did notice this on my latest look in the bios:

IMG_0006_zps3wzx6smj.jpg


My 3.3v rail is in red and seems to be running at 2.944 volts. At first I thought maybe my ssd was dying but after reinstalling windows all of the SMART parameters looked great. Now I'm thinking that my power supply is dying.

Here are my system specs by the way:
Intel 2600k @ 4.6ghz | Noctua NH-D14 | Asus P8Z68V-Pro GEN3 | 16GB G.Skill RipjawsX 1600mhz 9-9-9-24-2T | 256GB Samsung 840 Pro | 160GB Intel 320 Series | EVGA 3GB GTX 780 Ti + hi-flow bracket | Seasonic X750 | CaseLabs Merlin SM8 | X-Fi Titanium HD | Samsung SH-222BB | Win 7 Pro 64-bit

I've only had the psu for 3 years and 1 month :(

Hmm, I suppose the PSU could be defective or failing. I don't suppose you have a multimeter handy for checking?
 
Everything I'm reading on Reddit's /r/buildapc. Seems the best way to run it would be the front 3 fans as intakes, the top back as exhaust, and the H100i as exhaust?

I'm going to check out those cases, thanks.

Yeah, that sounds like the fan configuration that I'd go for.
 
Hi guys!

I'm currently using GTX 770 4GB, but I'm thinking about buying GTX 980. Is it worth it?

According to rumors AMD is willing to show new cards in not so distant future and Nvidia will probably response with 980ti. So maybe it would be wiser to wait and observe the market?

BTW AMD is not a option for me...
 
Hi guys!

I'm currently using GTX 770 4GB, but I'm thinking about buying GTX 980. Is it worth it?

According to rumors AMD is willing to show new cards in not so distant future and Nvidia will probably response with 980ti. So maybe it would be wiser to wait and observe the market?

BTW AMD is not a option for me...

I have the same dilemma but I have the gtx 580 currently and I'm almost certainly now I want the 980ti whenever that comes out and I'm hoping June
 
Hi guys!

I'm currently using GTX 770 4GB, but I'm thinking about buying GTX 980. Is it worth it?

According to rumors AMD is willing to show new cards in not so distant future and Nvidia will probably response with 980ti. So maybe it would be wiser to wait and observe the market?

BTW AMD is not a option for me...

Whether it's worth it depends on several factors. How much money you can afford to spend, how long you want to go before upgrading again, what games you play at what settings and resolution..

I'd recommend the GTX 970 if you were only playing at 1080p, for example. It's a decent card that is better for price-to-performance than the GTX 980. You'd be saving a lot of money and if you were willing to do some tweaking, it's possible for an overclocked GTX 970 to reach stock GTX 980 levels, going from these articles from Extremetech and Techgage. At higher resolutions the GTX 980 performs better, of course.
 
I have the same dilemma but I have the checkpoint 580 currently and I'm almost certainly now I want the 980ti whenever that comes out and I'm hoping June
If rumours about new AMD cards are true it's gonna be overkill for Nvidia. So Nvidia would have to do something quickly to compete with newest Radeons. Price cuts & 980ti (also priced reasonably :D) seems good option then :)

Whether it's worth it depends on several factors. How much money you can afford to spend, how long you want to go before upgrading again, what games you play at what settings and resolution..

I'd recommend the GTX 970 if you were only playing at 1080p, for example. It's a decent card that is better for price-to-performance than the GTX 980. You'd be saving a lot of money and if you were willing to do some tweaking, it's possible for an overclocked GTX 970 to reach stock GTX 980 levels, going from these articles from Extremetech and Techgage. At higher resolutions the GTX 980 performs better, of course.

I'm currently good with FHD. 980 is within reach. My wet dream is to play everything maxed out with rock-solid 60fps :) (I'm fully aware that's not always possible due to many reasons). I'd say that I change my gear every 2 years (more or less). But the real issue now is should I wait 2-3months for new possible releases or should I buy what's in stock currently.
 
Yeah, that sounds like the fan configuration that I'd go for.

Last question, then I'll stop bugging you. I appreciate all the help you've provided today.

Should I buy any separate fans to use in place of the ones that come with the H440 Razer and H100i?
 
Last question, then I'll stop bugging you. I appreciate all the help you've provided today.

Should I buy any separate fans to use in place of the ones that come with the H440 Razer and H100i?
The H440 Razer edition comes with 4 fans included, so in terms of the number of fans there are, you're pretty set. There would only be one 120mm fan mount left unused after mounting the H100i in the top. I think the only reason you would need to buy additional fans is if you wanted to replace the stock fans with higher performing or quieter fans, I'm not really familiar with the fans that come included with the H440 Razer so I don't know of if you would find them inadequate or noisy.
 
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